Route Climbed: South side Date Climbed: June 27, 2002
Nice route- overcrowded though. We got an early start to avoid crowds - even with the recent deaths, people are still acting stupid on the slope above the bergschrund - roped up teams descending/ascending, crossing over eachother.... when are they gonna learn?
Route Climbed: North Face Date Climbed: Late Winter 2002 (maybe march?)
Parked at cooper spur ski area. Climbed with JZ. The glacier was covered well. Took a break in a snowcave below the bergschrund to eat and brew and nap. There were a couple of steep steps and we used a few screws. Summited late morning. Cooper was too loaded to downclimb as was the Sunshine route, so we hiked down the chairlifts and hitched a ride back to the truck with some guy who told stories of meeting all of the famous climbers of the previous generation. Interesting guy.
Route Climbed: Cooper Spur Route Date Climbed: August 9, 2002
This turned out to be an epic climb. Perfect weather the entire day, but lots of rock fall and tricky climbing up rock couloirs. I would recommend climbing this route earlier in the season.
Route Climbed: West Crater Rim Date Climbed: June 21, 2002
Had a great time in May on the Hogsback route, so I came back for a harder route. Slept in the car then took a snowcat to the top of the lift. Cut to the left of Crater Rock and around the scree patch, then straight up to the summit ridge. Was about as steep as between the bergschrund and pearly gates on the hogsback route, but the steep section is much longer. The weather this time was much better with almost no wind. It was a lot easier trip than last time with a daypack, the cat, and no 50 mph winds!
Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: May 18th 2002
Brought a friend up who had never skied or climbed before. We drove up after work on the 16th from Seattle and slept in the car. On the 17th we skied under perfect sunny skies, at 2pm we dumped the ski's and caught the chair lift up to 8,500'. We Climbed up to 9,200' and found a great spot for the night. We left the tent around 6am on the 18th, the sun had left us with low clouds. Above the Hogsback the bottleneck really started, at one point above the bergshrund we waited for nearly 30 minutes w/o moving. Conditions were very icy (I actually bent the point on my axe) and in the 50degree neighborhood. We summited at 11am, Zero vis from the summit. decent was uneventful and slow.(waiting allot)
Route Climbed: South Ridge Date Climbed: May 25, 2002
We left Timberline parking lot just after midnight. The summit looked deceptively close under clear skies and a full moon. We took our place in the endless line of headlamps trudging our way up the mountain in the dark. At 8500 feet, we took a quick break for some food and then continued marching up toward the summit. By daybreak, some weather had begun to blow in from the West and visibility was down to about 100 feet. Ascending from sea level to 9000 feet in just a few hours had also left one of our party ill with altitude sickness. At 9200 feet, we paused to assess the condition of the weather and our altitude sickness-stricken teammate. The decision was made to turn back and try again another day.
Route Climbed: Cooper Spur Date Climbed: August 10, 2002
Not the recommended month to climb Hood. Lots of small rockfall, that you could hear and see coming. Took 8 hours versus the 4-6 it was supposed to take. Descended the southside. Crossing above the bergschrund was horrible. Ice with a layer of dirt on top, also rockfall coming down. Cooper Spur is a challenging route especially at the top. Only saw one other person, some crazy englishman who summited up the south route in 2 1/2 hours. There is no shuttle service back to the trailhead so if you only have one car you better hope for a ride with someone who is prepared to go out of their way. (Thanks Keith). View was incredible and the devil's kitchen is pretty foul smelling.
Route Climbed: Palmer Glacier/Hogsback Date Climbed: Summer '97
Made an evening ascent, reached the summit for sundown. Made camp on Hogsback next to Crater Rock, I don't suggest camping here to anyone else as everything smelled like sulfphur afterwards.
Route Climbed: south side hogsback Date Climbed: June 14 2001
Climb described by summit log already posted by idpinky. It's my tent that seems to be about to be blown away. My dad Jack , the guy who got hit by the rock, and I got a lot of sleep that night. yeah right. I guess the wind decided to blow at little different angle than usualy because the tent was setup to take blows from the direction that the ice and snow had been wind blown and we hadn't prepared it with guy lines. We ended up getting slightly side swipted.
Route Climbed: S. Side Date Climbed: June 22, 2002
Summitted Mt. Hood on the second try. Unfortunately, combination of lack of sleep and fumes from devil's kitchen caused some "severe discomfort", but the hogsback and pearly gates was awesome!
Route Climbed: Hogsback/SouthSide Date Climbed: 5/28/02
Some really amazing scenery as we were moving up Hogsback at about 9:00PM. Crossed the schrund just as night fell. Not a difficult climb by any stretch, but really a fun way to take in some great views. Summitted with my buddies Paul Ivaska and Jim Poe.
Route Climbed: Southside/Palmer Glacier/HOgsback Date Climbed: June 8, 2002
Summitted at 8:50 AM the day after the mountain reopened after the May 30th Bergshrund Fall/Helicopter Crash. We started are ascent during a brief break in the weather at quarter to four in the morning. We experienced gusts of winds to 40-50 mph with spindrift causing drifts that we postholed to thigh-deep in some places. As we were getting ready to retreat at about 10,000 feet we bumped into a solo climber from Vancouver and the weather looked as if it was breaking. By the time we reached the top of the Hogsback we had very little wind and were experiencing crystal blue skies. We summitted with spectacular conditions at the top on a summit nobody had stood upon for over a week. The ten other climbers that had registered on Friday and Saturday turned back. Our descent was in relatively good weather with clouds and snow developing as we returned to the Timberline Lodge parking lot. We were interviewed by Portland's Channel 8 News. We then left for an unsuccessful ski ascent and descent of Mount Adams.
Great Summit. Sobering to think of the three deaths as we passed the 'shrund. We look forward to Eliot Glacier next year.
Route Climbed: Southside, Old Crater Variation Date Climbed: May 30,2002
We took the Old Crater Variation after seeing too many slow moving climbers in the area between the bergschrund and the Pearly Gates. Our time on the summit was beautiful, our descent became a nightmare. 3 separate teams below us all fell into the bergschrund, 9 people total, 3 died. Then just when we thought the last seriously injured person was going to be airlifted out, the helicopter crashes. Unbelievably, there were no more deaths. We had planned to go to Rainier the next day, but our hearts weren't in it. At this time, I have no desire to ever climb Hood again.
ADDED July 13, 2004: Time has a way of changing things. After 2 years I decided I didn't want my last memories of Mt. Hood to be so negative. Thursday afternoon I drove 500 miles to the Timberline parking lot. Friday morning I nearly ran up the south side to the summit. It was beautifully cold and I was wonderfully, unbelievably . . . alone. I made my peace with Mt. Hood and then began a slow, relaxed descent back to the truck.
Route Climbed: South Side Route Date Climbed: April 25, 2002
Started hiking at 11:30 PM on 4/25/02 from Timberline lodge. Stashed skis at Silcox hut. Made it to the top of Palmer lift at 2:45 AM. Used crampons from then on. We didn't need headlamps most of the time because the full moon provided enough light for climbing. The wind was fierce and the temperature was COLD! Our water was freezing up fast. We were thankful for the sun as we climbed the Hogsback. The wind died down and the temperature rose slightly. Summited at 6:30 AM. You can't ask for a much more beautiful place to watch the sunrise. Roped up on the way down. With only two people in our climbing party, the descent went fast. Started high-speed glissading just below Crater Rock. Made it to our skis at the Silcox. We tried to keep from falling for the quick journey to the car. We arrived at the car @ 9:30 AM. This was a great start to what looks to be a wonderful climbing year! Shane & Matt
pbeebe - Nov 17, 2002 6:06 pm
Route Climbed: South side Date Climbed: June 27, 2002Nice route- overcrowded though. We got an early start to avoid crowds - even with the recent deaths, people are still acting stupid on the slope above the bergschrund - roped up teams descending/ascending, crossing over eachother.... when are they gonna learn?
OregonNative - Nov 13, 2002 9:22 pm
Route Climbed: North Face Date Climbed: Late Winter 2002 (maybe march?)Parked at cooper spur ski area. Climbed with JZ. The glacier was covered well. Took a break in a snowcave below the bergschrund to eat and brew and nap. There were a couple of steep steps and we used a few screws. Summited late morning. Cooper was too loaded to downclimb as was the Sunshine route, so we hiked down the chairlifts and hitched a ride back to the truck with some guy who told stories of meeting all of the famous climbers of the previous generation. Interesting guy.
fastandlight - Nov 5, 2002 10:34 pm
Route Climbed: Cooper Spur Route Date Climbed: August 9, 2002This turned out to be an epic climb. Perfect weather the entire day, but lots of rock fall and tricky climbing up rock couloirs. I would recommend climbing this route earlier in the season.
Martin Cash - Oct 31, 2002 4:06 pm
Route Climbed: West Crater Rim Date Climbed: June 21, 2002Had a great time in May on the Hogsback route, so I came back for a harder route. Slept in the car then took a snowcat to the top of the lift. Cut to the left of Crater Rock and around the scree patch, then straight up to the summit ridge. Was about as steep as between the bergschrund and pearly gates on the hogsback route, but the steep section is much longer. The weather this time was much better with almost no wind. It was a lot easier trip than last time with a daypack, the cat, and no 50 mph winds!
rmjwinters - Oct 5, 2002 9:48 pm
Route Climbed: South side Hogsback Date Climbed: July 1998Climbed with my friend Scott on a beautiful day. 6 hrs roundtrip from the Lodge. Bergschrund was a little dicey, but negotiable.
jasonconnell - Sep 26, 2002 9:56 pm
Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: May 18th 2002Brought a friend up who had never skied or climbed before. We drove up after work on the 16th from Seattle and slept in the car. On the 17th we skied under perfect sunny skies, at 2pm we dumped the ski's and caught the chair lift up to 8,500'. We Climbed up to 9,200' and found a great spot for the night. We left the tent around 6am on the 18th, the sun had left us with low clouds. Above the Hogsback the bottleneck really started, at one point above the bergshrund we waited for nearly 30 minutes w/o moving. Conditions were very icy (I actually bent the point on my axe) and in the 50degree neighborhood. We summited at 11am, Zero vis from the summit. decent was uneventful and slow.(waiting allot)
cluck - Sep 12, 2002 5:20 pm
Route Climbed: South Ridge Date Climbed: May 25, 2002We left Timberline parking lot just after midnight. The summit looked deceptively close under clear skies and a full moon. We took our place in the endless line of headlamps trudging our way up the mountain in the dark. At 8500 feet, we took a quick break for some food and then continued marching up toward the summit. By daybreak, some weather had begun to blow in from the West and visibility was down to about 100 feet. Ascending from sea level to 9000 feet in just a few hours had also left one of our party ill with altitude sickness. At 9200 feet, we paused to assess the condition of the weather and our altitude sickness-stricken teammate. The decision was made to turn back and try again another day.
IdahoClimber - Aug 13, 2002 1:57 pm
Route Climbed: Cooper Spur Date Climbed: August 10, 2002Not the recommended month to climb Hood. Lots of small rockfall, that you could hear and see coming. Took 8 hours versus the 4-6 it was supposed to take. Descended the southside. Crossing above the bergschrund was horrible. Ice with a layer of dirt on top, also rockfall coming down. Cooper Spur is a challenging route especially at the top. Only saw one other person, some crazy englishman who summited up the south route in 2 1/2 hours. There is no shuttle service back to the trailhead so if you only have one car you better hope for a ride with someone who is prepared to go out of their way. (Thanks Keith). View was incredible and the devil's kitchen is pretty foul smelling.
Joe Hanssen - Jul 29, 2002 10:04 am
Route Climbed: Palmer Glacier/Hogsback Date Climbed: Summer '97Made an evening ascent, reached the summit for sundown. Made camp on Hogsback next to Crater Rock, I don't suggest camping here to anyone else as everything smelled like sulfphur afterwards.
mattcrsbws - Jul 26, 2002 8:27 am
Route Climbed: south side hogsback Date Climbed: June 14 2001Climb described by summit log already posted by idpinky. It's my tent that seems to be about to be blown away. My dad Jack , the guy who got hit by the rock, and I got a lot of sleep that night. yeah right. I guess the wind decided to blow at little different angle than usualy because the tent was setup to take blows from the direction that the ice and snow had been wind blown and we hadn't prepared it with guy lines. We ended up getting slightly side swipted.
Fred Spicker - Jul 25, 2002 9:50 am
Route Climbed: Leuthold Couloir, Sunshine, & S. Side Old Crater Date Climbed: 29 Mar 1975, 2 May 1981 & 8 June 20031975 via Leuthold Couloir with David Coughlin, Al Munhall, & Chuck Grant
1981 via Sunshine with David Coughlin & Jon Petterson
2003 via the S. Side, Old Crater variation, solo
jtschanz - Jul 15, 2002 11:38 am
Route Climbed: S. Side Date Climbed: June 22, 2002Summitted Mt. Hood on the second try. Unfortunately, combination of lack of sleep and fumes from devil's kitchen caused some "severe discomfort", but the hogsback and pearly gates was awesome!
BicRungee - Jul 10, 2002 4:38 pm
Route Climbed: south side Date Climbed: June 2000Climbed with peter, robin & LJo. Skied descent from about 9,500 feet. Beats walking.
barry - Jul 1, 2002 5:20 pm
Date Climbed: may25 2000had fun the first time and came back
barry - Jul 1, 2002 5:18 pm
Date Climbed: april 15 2000fun hike
marcminish - Jun 24, 2002 2:54 pm
Route Climbed: Hogsback/SouthSide Date Climbed: 5/28/02Some really amazing scenery as we were moving up Hogsback at about 9:00PM. Crossed the schrund just as night fell. Not a difficult climb by any stretch, but really a fun way to take in some great views. Summitted with my buddies Paul Ivaska and Jim Poe.
tbnelson - Jun 10, 2002 9:22 am
Route Climbed: Southside/Palmer Glacier/HOgsback Date Climbed: June 8, 2002Summitted at 8:50 AM the day after the mountain reopened after the May 30th Bergshrund Fall/Helicopter Crash. We started are ascent during a brief break in the weather at quarter to four in the morning. We experienced gusts of winds to 40-50 mph with spindrift causing drifts that we postholed to thigh-deep in some places. As we were getting ready to retreat at about 10,000 feet we bumped into a solo climber from Vancouver and the weather looked as if it was breaking. By the time we reached the top of the Hogsback we had very little wind and were experiencing crystal blue skies. We summitted with spectacular conditions at the top on a summit nobody had stood upon for over a week. The ten other climbers that had registered on Friday and Saturday turned back. Our descent was in relatively good weather with clouds and snow developing as we returned to the Timberline Lodge parking lot. We were interviewed by Portland's Channel 8 News. We then left for an unsuccessful ski ascent and descent of Mount Adams.
Great Summit. Sobering to think of the three deaths as we passed the 'shrund. We look forward to Eliot Glacier next year.
Paul Burkholder - Jun 2, 2002 8:39 pm
Route Climbed: Southside, Old Crater Variation Date Climbed: May 30,2002We took the Old Crater Variation after seeing too many slow moving climbers in the area between the bergschrund and the Pearly Gates. Our time on the summit was beautiful, our descent became a nightmare. 3 separate teams below us all fell into the bergschrund, 9 people total, 3 died. Then just when we thought the last seriously injured person was going to be airlifted out, the helicopter crashes. Unbelievably, there were no more deaths. We had planned to go to Rainier the next day, but our hearts weren't in it. At this time, I have no desire to ever climb Hood again.
ADDED July 13, 2004: Time has a way of changing things. After 2 years I decided I didn't want my last memories of Mt. Hood to be so negative. Thursday afternoon I drove 500 miles to the Timberline parking lot. Friday morning I nearly ran up the south side to the summit. It was beautifully cold and I was wonderfully, unbelievably . . . alone. I made my peace with Mt. Hood and then began a slow, relaxed descent back to the truck.
monkeyboy - May 20, 2002 8:09 pm
Route Climbed: Southside Date Climbed: 5-18-02Flying Solo
Cascade High - May 20, 2002 11:10 am
Route Climbed: South Side Route Date Climbed: April 25, 2002Started hiking at 11:30 PM on 4/25/02 from Timberline lodge. Stashed skis at Silcox hut. Made it to the top of Palmer lift at 2:45 AM. Used crampons from then on. We didn't need headlamps most of the time because the full moon provided enough light for climbing. The wind was fierce and the temperature was COLD! Our water was freezing up fast. We were thankful for the sun as we climbed the Hogsback. The wind died down and the temperature rose slightly. Summited at 6:30 AM. You can't ask for a much more beautiful place to watch the sunrise. Roped up on the way down. With only two people in our climbing party, the descent went fast. Started high-speed glissading just below Crater Rock. Made it to our skis at the Silcox. We tried to keep from falling for the quick journey to the car. We arrived at the car @ 9:30 AM. This was a great start to what looks to be a wonderful climbing year! Shane & Matt